The Heart's Path
by Mizu Sousui
Summary: Sora's parents, the king and queen of Destai, have chosen a wife for him, Namine. He doesn't love her and refuses to marry her, but he is forced to marry her. One day he sees the girl of his dreams, Kairi and problems arise. FINALLY COMPLETE
1. No Love Without Marriage

"Prince Sora, it is time to start a new day," a tall man announced. His hair slicked back, matching his onyx suit.

Sora woke up and sat up to look around his elaborate room. The ocean blue covers of his bed went with the snow white walls around him; one half of a wall was taken over by a window surrounded by silver. On another wall of the room stood a wide oak bookcase that contained many volumes of books, each title etched in gold. Sora's oak desk was at the foot of his bed, the papers were piled up on either side of his clothes.

"Would master like his breakfast in bed?" the man asked.

"No, thanks Kajuu. I'll come down to the dining hall when I'm ready," Sora took off the covers and walked over to the window, scratching his auburn hair. The kingdom of Destai stretched before him as far as his ocean blue eyes could see.

"Remember, sir. Today is your big day, your clothes are on your desk," Kajuu then exited the room and closed the door.

Sora looked over to see the bright sapphire blue fleur-de-lis showing over the snow white silk clothes and the elaborate sapphire blue cape. His silver crown, embedded with sapphire jewels laid on top of the stack of folded clothes. Sora walked over to his clothes and pushed aside his crown as he grabbed his shirt. As he was placing his silver crown onto his head he realized something, "Wait, what did he mean by 'big day'?"

Sora ran down the spiraling marble staircase of the castle and entered the dining hall. The fifty foot cherry table had servants in every seat and at the end were the silver thrones with blue cushions. The jester, wearing white and blue, was making jokes toward King Squall. King Squall had short brown hair with brown eyes. A scar went down his face between his eyes, a result of battle. Sitting beside him was Queen Yuna, who was giggling at the jester's jokes. Her auburn hair came down to her shoulders. Her eyes, mismatched in color, showed a deep care for people. They were both wearing the traditional colors of Destai, blue and white.

"Ah Sora, you have awakened," Squall cheerfully said as Sora walked up to them. "Are you ready for your big surprise?"

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked his father.

"Just wait a second dear," Yuna told Sora. "Your father will tell everyone in a moment."

Squall stood up and raised his hands, "Attention! I have an announcement to make!" Everyone in the hall became dead silent. "Today is a great day for my son, Sora." Squall placed his hand on Sora's shoulder, "For today he shall see his future wife!" Everyone in the hall cheered and started to celebrate for Sora. "Long live the Leonhart Family!" Sora was shocked to hear this, he turned to his father. "Why am I being wed?!"

"Because it is for the good of Destai," Squall replied smiling at everyone, "with this alliance trade between Destai and the other worlds will speed up ten fold because of the technological advances of Radiant Garden. Also, Destai will get a fair amount of money on the goods we export,"

"But I've never even met this girl! I don't even know what she's like!"

"Well, your mother and I didn't when we were being wed. After, we talked and found out we loved each other,"

"I want to do things my way!" Sora exclaimed, his face turning scarlet.

"Well, too bad. You're going to have to deal with it,"

Sora became angry and stomped back to his room upstairs.

Kajuu came into Sora's room and told him that his fiancée was downstairs waiting for him. Sora ran down the stairs and entered the dining hall where his parents and the others were waiting. Sora entered and saw three other people at the table. One was a man with spiky blonde hair. His eyes were an ocean blue color. The woman beside him also had blonde hair, but her emerald eyes could easily be seen. A small girl was sitting beside the woman. Her ocean blue eyes could be seen through the pale blonde hair. They all wore black clothes with a radiating ruby fleur-de-lis. Their gold crowns were engraved with rubies.

"Hi everyone," Sora said.

"Hello Sora," The man with the spiky blonde hair replied. "I'm Cloud Strife. This woman here is my wife, Rikku. And beside her," He paused and looked over to the little girl then back to Sora, "is your fiancée Namine."

"Hi," Namine replied meekly.

"Nice to meet you," Sora replied. Kajuu then came up behind Sora and pushed him into the chair beside Namine.

"Now, let us talk about the wedding," Squall started. "Do you want to do the tradition where the parents of the bride pay for everything? Or would you rather we all pay for it?"

At that time, Sora stood up from his seat and stormed out of the room. Squall stood up, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to my room!" Sora yelled going up the stairs.

Sora was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling wondering how he could get out of this. Sora got up from his bed and walked over to the window. The afternoon sun made everything look so peaceful, that's when Sora got an idea. He went over to his armoire and went through his clothes to look for something normal. He pulled out some brown clothes that use to be Kajuu's before he became their servant and put them on. He then snuck down the stairs. He could still hear his parents talking. He went out through the gigantic pearl front doors and snuck around the guards to the front gate. He went through the gaps of the front gate and was in the actual kingdom. He walked down the grassy hills that lead to town and breathed in the fresh air. When he finally reached the town he looked up at the wonderful old style buildings. A few feet away he saw some kids his age playing in the street with a black and white ball. Sora ran over to the boys, "What are you guys playing?" They all stopped and looked at him funny.

"Are you serious?" One of them asked his black hair getting in his brown eyes.

"You don't know what soccer is?" Another one with red hair asked.

Sora had an expression of shock on his face, "Oh sorry, I couldn't see the ball from where I was standing,"

"Well," the first one said, "do you want to join us?"

"Sure," Sora replied. So with that they started playing soccer together. As Sora was kicking the ball down the street he passed it to one of the boys and looked up. He saw the most beautiful girl walk by. She was wearing very dirty rags, but her features made her beautiful. Her crimson hair went with her lavender eyes. Suddenly Sora heard very familiar voices. "There he is!" Sora looked to see one of the castle guards pointing at him. Sora started to run the other way to escape them, but he was cut off by two other guards. They each took him by the arm and started to drag him to the castle. "No!" Sora yelled. "No! Let me go! I said, let me go!"


	2. Poor Times

"No! Let go of me! I said let go of me!" Sora yelled as he was being dragged away. The crimson haired girl looked over to Sora and shook her head.

"The royal guards are so mean." She then forgot about him and continued on down the alley way. As the sixteen year old went down though, it got darker. She started to worry, "Where am I? I have never been this way before."

"Then we're going to have some fun." A gruff voice grunted. The girl spun around to see a middle aged man with electric blue hair looking down at her.

"Get away from me!" The girl yelled. As the man grabbed the girl's wrist he was stabbed in the back with a knife. His grip loosened and he fell to the ground to show that his killer was a silver haired man with aqua eyes. He too was wearing rags like the girl.

"Are you okay Kairi?" the man asked. Kairi ran to the man and wrapped her arms around him, "Yes Riku, I'm fine thanks to you." Then she looked up at him, "Did you really have to kill the man?"

"He was going to rape you, what was I suppose to do? Sit and watch? That's just disgusting!" Kairi pulled back her arms and looked to the ground.

"I'm sorry that I ran away from you."

"You should be! I looked everywhere for you! What if I didn't find you? Do you know how worried I would be?"

Kairi started to cry, the tears rolling down her face. Riku sighed and wrapped his arms around Kairi, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I just don't know what I'd do if I lost you." Kairi continued on crying on Riku's shoulder.

"I won't run again, I promise." Kairi replied softly. Riku sighed and replied with "Its okay Kairi, just I feel like I'm responsible for you ever since I found you eight years ago."

_**Flashback**_

**_As a nine year old Riku was roaming the streets of Destai in his usual rags he noticed a nice bakery with a large, freshly baked French baguette on the window display. He licked his lips and looked around, no one in sight. He entered the bakery and reached for the loaf. "Hey you!" Riku turned to see the baker with his rolling pin in hand walking towards him. Riku grabbed the bread and ran out the door not looking back. He could hear the footsteps of the baker following him and he ran into a dark alley and hid inside an empty box. He heard the footsteps of the baker pass by and Riku gave a sigh of relief. He climbed out of the box and took a second look to make sure it was clear and walked down the alley. At that moment he heard someone sobbing behind a trash can he pushed it aside to see a little crimson haired girl with her arms around her knees looking towards the ground. _**

"_**Hey, are you alright?" Riku asked the girl. **_

"_**Yes, go away!" she turned away from him. **_

"_**Please, just tell me what's wrong. I just want to help you." Riku said. **_

"_**No!"**_

_**Riku sighed and looked at the French baguette in his hand and tore it in half. He poked the girl and made showed her the bread he was trying to offer her. She reluctantly took it and started to nibble on it. "My name is Riku, what's yours?" Riku sat down beside the girl as he started to eat his half. **_

"_**My name is Kairi. Thank you Riku." **_

_**End of Flashback**_

By now it was night time and Riku and Kairi were heading home. Kairi hugged Riku, "You've always been like the big brother I never had."

"Yeah, I guess so. We're home." At that moment, they arrived at their "house" a small shack made out of some sheets and four sticks. Riku moved the sheet that was their front door and entered with Kairi behind. Kairi ran past Riku and went over to a pile of hay that had a lavender sheet and a white pillow. Kairi jumped into her "bed" and pulled the sheet over her.

"Good night Riku." She said as she closed her eyes.

"Good night," Riku replied he went over to his pile of hay and lay down. He looked up at the top of their home and started to imagine a place where they didn't have to worry about any money or shelter, or anything. It would be paradise. Riku then got up and went outside to look at the stars. At that moment, the seemingly glowing white castle of the royal family caught his eye. At that moment, an idea hatched in his head. He walked back inside and made sure Kairi was asleep.

"Don't worry," Riku said stroking Kairi's crimson hair, "We won't have to worry about anything after tonight." With that Riku ran towards the castle with an evil but noble intention in mind.

_Sorry for the wait on this update, I had writer's block and no time to type. I'm also sorry that this is shorter than the last chapter which was short to begin with. I'll try to make them a little longer and in depth in the next ones. No time for Author's Response so I'll do it next time._


	3. Boy meets Girl

Sora was sitting on his bed as he heard the footsteps of his mother and father ascending the stairs. _What are they going to do to me?_ Sora thought to himself. At that moment the door opened and Squall marched in with Yuna behind him.

"What were you thinking?" Squall yelled.

"Dear, I don't think--" Yuna started, but Squall cut her off.

"Sneaking out of the castle, wearing….rags, playing with peasants, disobeying your orders, and…and…"

"Possibly ruining your chance at more money?" Sora blurted out.

Squall's scarlet face showed that he was not amused by Sora's back talk. "Fine, If you want to be such a royal pain, then you're grounded! You are not to leave my or your mother's sight, neither the guards nor Kajuu's sight till after the wedding!" Squall swiftly marched back out of the room. Sora looked at Yuna with disbelief, but she just shook her head and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Sora grabbed his pillow and threw it across the room. It crashed against the wall, but just fell to the floor.

"Why does he have to be such an ass?!" Sora yelled. "He doesn't care for my well being. All he cares about is getting money!" Sora looked toward the floor and the girl's face popped up again. "She was so beautiful." He laid himself on his bed and stared up at the white ceiling. "Her red hair and her purple eyes were just so beautiful." Sora sighed at the thought and fell asleep.

Outside the castle, a certain silver haired seventeen year old was sneaking around, knocking out any guards that got in his way. "Alright. All I have to do is sneak in and grab something that'll get me some money." Riku said to himself. He got to a window that was on the first floor and broke the glass; he then crawled through the opening and looked around. There were golden candelabras everywhere. The long sapphire carpet stretched from one side of the enormous room to the other. The two thrones at the end of the carpet were glimmering in the moonlight. Between the thrones hanging on the wall was a shield with two silver keyblades crossed on it. On the silver shield was a blue lion _(like the necklace that Leon wears in the game)_ representing the royal family of Destai. Riku saw the keyblades and said, "Perfect. I can use it as a weapon to get out of here then I can sell it off for a good profit." So he ran for the keyblades and jumped onto one of the thrones and grabbed one of the keyblades. He looked at the gleaming silver of the keyblade and swung it around. "This is nice." Riku smiled and jumped off the throne and started to walk out. Unfortunately as he was heading for the exit, he was cut off by the royal guards. Riku looked to the floor. "Crap."

(With Kairi)

Kairi woke up with the sunrise in her face. She removed the covers and stood up to stretch. "Hey, Riku. What do you want to do today?" She waited for a response but didn't get one. "Riku?" Kairi started to look around, but didn't see Riku anywhere. She ran outside and saw a crowd of people around a poster on the wall. Kairi got through the crowd to see that the poster was a warning. The poster had a drawing of Riku in the center with a message underneath:

**Let this be an example to all who decide to break the laws of Destai. This young man will be hanged in six days for larceny and treason to the throne. All citizens of Destai must attend or be punished.**

**So says King Squall Leonhart of Destai.**

The citizens started to quarrel over the poster, "How are they going to know who comes to it or not?" one said.

"Poor boy. He wasn't even of age yet. He had his whole life in front of him."

"The king is overreacting towards this."

"I think he's right. Those who break the law need to be punished."

"I wonder what he stole anyway."

As Kairi heard these words from the people, she started to cry and ran off.

Meanwhile in the castle, Riku was in a jail cell sitting in the corner. "Damn, I was so close. I could have helped Kairi with the money that I would have gotten from that keyblade."

"Hey!" a guard yelled. "Keep quiet in there! I can't think with you mumblin'!"

Sora awoke from his sleep and got up from his bed to see Kajuu standing beside his bed. "I'm dreadfully sorry sir, but it is your parents' orders." Sora sighed as he rose up from his bed and went over to his armoire.

"It's alright, Kajuu. I can understand. You don't want father mad at you." As Sora grabbed his robes, Kajuu put his hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Sir, to tell you the truth, I don't care about what your father will think. While I was on my watch outside your door, I heard you whisper 'red hair' over and over again. I figured that you probably saw this girl on your little adventure outside." Kajuu stretched out his arm and showed that he had some peasant clothes in his hand, "So why don't you go find that girl and tell her how beautiful she is?" Sora smiled and hugged Kajuu.

"Thank you so much." Sora took the clothes and started to change as Kajuu left the room. Kajuu turned before closing the door. "Sir, I advise you to go through the dungeons and get to the door outside there." With that, he closed the door. Sora had finished changing into his brown peasant clothes; he opened the door and saw that Kajuu was still standing there. Sora came out and Kajuu turned to him "Okay, just quietly go down into the dungeon and down the hall. If any guards see you, just knock them out with this. Kajuu handed Sora a small wooden sword

"Alright, thanks Kajuu." Sora said, tucking the sword away.

"Now, be careful." Sora nodded and ran down the steps towards the basement. As he walked down the dark gloomy corridor, he heard the voices of two guards. Sora grabbed his wooden sword and knew what to do. He ran towards the guards and took a swing at the back of one of their heads. The other one he hit in the face. Both were knocked out and Sora put the wooden sword away. As Sora was about to leave, he heard some chains rattle and looked into the cell. He saw a very depressed silver haired young man who's already tattered clothes were about to fall off of him. "Um, excuse me?" Sora whispered.

The silver haired young man looked up at Sora with his green eyes. "Oh thank goodness someone is here. Please grab those keys from the guard." Sora looked around and saw that one of the guards had a key ring with several keys on it. Sora took them off the guard's belt and unlocked the door after a few tries. He then went over to the young man and was trying each key to find the one to fit the shackles. "By the way, what's your name?" Sora asked.

"My name is Riku. What's your name?" As Sora released Riku from his hold, he thought for a second.

"Roxas. My name is Roxas," Sora lied.

"Alright, Roxas," Riku stood up and started to rub his wrists. "How do we get out of here?"

"I know a way. Follow me." Sora ran out of the cell with Riku behind him and they ran down the corridor to the door at the end. Sora opened the door and they were outside of the castle. All they had to do was get to town and they would be free. They ran down the hill as fast as they could, watching for any passing guards. After a few minutes, they were in town. They slowed down and were at a walking pace going down the streets. "I guess I better get home before they know I'm gone," Riku said, looking around to see if anyone noticed.

"Can I come with you? I don't really have any place to stay." Sora asked.

"Sure. Just to let you know I live with a girl. I think she might be your age."

"Really? What does she look like?"

"You'll see. First, I need to get some new clothes and you need to change your hair color."

"Why do I have to change my hair color?"

"Because you were the one who released me. And unless someone chickened out on you, you were the one who knocked out the guards. They'll remember you, so if we change your hair color and style, then they shouldn't recognize you."

"Okay, makes sense. Where do we buy this stuff?" Sora asked.

"Buy? Ha! No man. We steal it, watch." Riku walked over to an apple stand and pretended to bump into it; he casually grabbed an apple and stuck it in whatever was left of his pocket. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir." Riku said, walking away. Sora came up behind Riku. "Wow. That was pretty smooth."

"Thanks, but we need to get to the tailor and a hair product store. Are you up to it?"

Sora shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Alright, there's the store. Now, we'll need clothes for me, something for girls, and something for you." Sora nodded and looked towards the clothing store. He saw a nice black shirt and some black shorts. Near the clothes was an accessories bin that had black fingerless gloves and a huge necklace that was in the shape of a crown.

"Uh, Riku, you get what you need and the dress. I'll grab what I want." Sora said with a grin on his face.

"Are you sure?" Riku saw the expression and understood, "Alright. On three. 1, 2…3!" They both ran for the store. Sora grabbed the shirt, shorts, gloves and the necklace in one swipe. Unfortunately, the owner was at the entrance blocking his way. "Now you better put those clothes back or I'll call…Hey wait, you're--" Riku punched the man in the stomach and ran out while Sora followed. When Riku and Sora reached an alley, they stopped to catch their breath.

"Alright. What did you grab?" Riku asked Sora.

"I got this." Sora showed Riku everything that he grabbed.

"The necklace is a bit much, but nice anyway. I got these." Riku showed that he grabbed some pink clothes (Kairi's outfit in KH2) and some jeans, a black shirt and a white vest. "Alright, we better get home. We'll get the hair stuff tomorrow." Riku started to walk off and Sora followed.

Once they got to the "house," Sora was shocked. "This is where you live?!"

"Yeah. Great isn't it?" Riku responded, moving the sheet to get in. "Kairi! I'm back, and I got some new clothes for you!" Sora entered the shack and saw the crimson haired girl. Riku looked over to Sora, who still had his new clothes in his arms. "Oh, and this is my new friend Roxas." Kairi looked at Sora and smiled. "Hi."

"Hi." Sora smiled. Riku looked at them both and cleared his throat.

"Well, I'm going to change. I've been through a lot lately. Here you go, Kairi. I hope you like them."

"Looks great, Riku," Kairi responded, paying no attention to the clothes that Riku handed her. Riku went to another part of the shack while Kairi and Sora stayed in the same room.

"So, are you new here?" Kairi asked, moving closer to Sora.

"I've been here for a while, but I haven't really been able to meet most of the people here." He started to move towards Kairi.

"Do you want me to introduce you so some friends of ours?" At this point, Kairi and Sora were right beside each other.

"I'm actually a bit more interested in what I'm seeing right now." They closed their eyes and kissed under the moonlight.

At the castle, Squall was going up the stairs to Sora's room. "Maybe I was too hard on him. I should apologize." When he got to Sora's door, Kajuu was standing there. "Has there been any noise or disruption, Kajuu?"

"No sir. I actually haven't heard anything for a few hours."

"Alright, well, I'm going in." Squall knocked on the door. "Sora, it's your father. I want to talk to you." There was no response. Squall knocked again. "Sora, you're probably still mad but…" He started to open the door "I'm willing to--" He saw that the window was open and a series of sheets and blankets was tied together to a bed post and led to the outside. "Make sure that you never leave my sight ever again!" Squall angrily yelled.


	4. Truth Be Told

_Hello all! It's Mizu with the Author's Corner!!! I want to thank the people who have been reading and following this story. I apologize for the long updates. I've been getting large cases of writer's block unlike when I was writing __Riku's Love__. Also my friend Lionheart21 has been the editor for this story and since we both have school, we don't have that much time to write and edit. Well, I'll do my best with updating, here's Chapter 4!_

The next morning, Riku, Sora and Kairi were walking down the street in their new clothes looking for a hair products store.

"What color should I change my hair to?" Sora asked.

"I was thinking red. So, that way, we can pass you off as Kairi's brother or something," Riku said, putting his hands into his pocket.

"I don't know, Riku." Kairi looked at Sora and started to think of hair colors that could work. "Hmmm, I'd say blonde is good."

"Why blonde?" Sora asked.

"Oh, just because." Kairi blushed and looked towards the ground.

"Well, there's the store now." Riku said, pointing towards the hair product store.

"Alright, so who wants to go in and get it?" Sora asked.

"Don't forget that we need hair gel too," Riku reminded them.

"Fine, I'll go," Kairi said, rolling her eyes. She walked over to the store and grabbed the hair dye and gel. As she was walking out, she was stopped by the teenage store clerk.

"Just where do you think you're going?" the teenage boy asked.

"I was about to go outside with these." Kairi responded, showing the hair products.

"Well, that'll be $43.63 little miss." The clerk extended his hand expecting money.

"How do you think she's doing?" Sora asked Riku, both still standing outside.

Kairi walked outside with a smile on her face. "What did you do?" Riku asked.

"Oh I just flashed him. His nose bled and he passed out." Kairi responded. Riku was shocked and looked at Sora.

"Hey, Roxas. Why is your nose bleeding?" Riku asked.

Sora covered up his nose to hide the fact that it was bleeding, "It's not bleeding." Kairi and Riku laughed and they started to head towards their home. After changing Sora's hair color and style, they wandered through the streets of town. As they went down the market square, they saw a large crowd of people around one of the guards on horseback.

"Attention, citizens of Destai!" the guard announced. "There seems to have been a breakout of one of our prisoners." The guard pulled out a scroll and unrolled it, revealing that the culprit was Riku. "We have reason to believe that there was an accomplice in his escape." Everyone looked worried, as though Riku killed someone important. Riku started to back out of the crowd as the guard continued the announcement. "We also have reason to believe that the prisoner, after release, kidnapped the prince…Sora!"

"Maybe we should leave now," Sora suggested, grabbing Kairi's arm and pulling her back. The guard saw Riku, who was still backing away and yelled, "There he is!" He pointed toward him and Sora caught his eye. "That must be his accomplice!"

"The girl or the boy?" Someone asked.

"Just grab both of them!" The guard yelled. Half of the crowd started to go after them, but the other half just left. Riku turned and ran, leaving Sora and Kairi in the dust. The townspeople were able to grab Sora and Kairi.

"Riku! Help!" Kairi yelled. Riku turned a corner and never looked back. Kairi started to cry, seeing that the only person she had to a family in the world ran off. Sora and Kairi were dragged toward the castle.

That night in the dungeons of the castle, Sora and Kairi were in separate cells divided only by the cold iron bars. Ironically, Sora was in the same cell that Riku was in. Kairi looked over at Sora, her crimson hair shining in the moonlight. "Roxas, are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah. The question is, are you alright?" Sora responded.

"I'm hurt. I can't believe that someone who has helped me basically all my life just abandoned me."

"Is he a relative of yours?"

"No. I was told that my parents were killed by bandits when I was very young. I was about seven when Riku found me on the streets. Since then, Riku's basically been my big brother. What about you, Roxas?"

Sora looked worried. He didn't know what to tell her, "Well, I…" Sora looked toward the door to see that it was open and that Squall was standing there.

"You will come with me, now." Squall said, with anger in his voice. Sora rose from the floor and patted off whatever dust or dirt was on his clothes and walked toward Squall, but something grabbed a hold of his wrist. He looked down to see that Kairi had been the one to grab his wrist. She pulled him back down to the ground and said, "Just in case you don't come back." At that moment, she gave him a kiss through one of the openings of the bars. Kairi released Sora's wrist, and he rose to face his father.

In the throne room, Sora was standing in front of his parents listening to his charges of theft, assault, disrespecting and avoiding the law, and finally possible kidnapping. Squall gave a disgusted look to Sora while Yuna hid her tears. "I have one question for you. Where is my son?" Squall asked as calm as he could.

"He could be anywhere. I don't know. I'm not the one who kidnapped him." Sora replied.

"Don't start acting smart toward me! I am the King! I could have you hanged bye sunrise if I chose!"

"Then why don't you?!" At these words, Sora was surprised. He never imagined that he would say something like that.

"I think I will! Guards! Have this boy hanged by sunrise! Make sure everyone sees!" Squall commanded. Yuna turned to her husband in shock.

"Dear, he's only a boy. Don't hang him." She begged Squall.

"My mind is made up. He will be hanged by sunrise tomorrow." Squall stood up and started to walk out of the throne room. The guards grabbed Sora's arms and started to drag him back to his cell when Sora cried out, "You idiot! You're going to hang your own son!" Squall turned back and looked at Sora. He commanded the guards to stop and let go of him. He walked toward Sora and examined his face.

"You can't be my son. You may have many of the same features as him, but you're not my son. Take him away." Squall commanded.

"Wait!" Yuna yelled. Everyone in the room turned toward her as she ran toward Sora. She looked at his features and ran her hand through his hair. "You have hair gel on. Wash it off and come back. Then we will see if you're our son or not.

"Why do you question what I say? I say that he is not our son!" Squall yelled.

"You may be the father, but a mother always knows." Yuna replied. "Now, go wash that out and dry your hair."

Sora was escorted toward one of the elegant restrooms of the castle where he turned on the water of a marble sink and washed out all of the gel. Since his hair was dyed, it still retained its blonde color, but as he dried his hair, it returned to its natural spiky state. After his hair was fully dry, he was escorted back into the throne room. He stood in front of Squall and Yuna yet again and awaited their responses. Squall's eyes became large as he saw that the person who he was about to hang was indeed his son. Yuna rose from her throne and ran toward Sora. When she reached him she gave him a huge hug.

"I knew it was you. Kajuu told me everything," Yuna replied with tears in her eyes.

"I still don't believe that you are my son." Sora and Yuna looked to see that Squall was standing over them.

"Fine," Sora replied, standing up to his father. "Who else that wasn't in this castle knows that I'm getting married to Princess Namine of Radiant Garden?"

"Everyone in the town. We posted announcements everywhere the day after."

"Who else knows that we're getting married because of the trading opportunities that we would have with Radiant Garden?"

"You may have heard it from various residents of this castle."

"Who knows that I yelled at you saying that I was probably just ruining your chance at gaining more money by not marrying Namine?!" Sora was yelling at this point. Squall looked at him in shock, realizing that the boy in front of him was in fact, his son.

"Why? Why, Sora? Why did you run away from home?"

"Because you were being an ass." Sora replied.

"Alright, fine. Then, you will be married tomorrow!" Squall announced.

"What?!" Sora exclaimed. "You can't have me get married tomorrow!"

"Yes, I can. You two will be wed tomorrow following the hanging of that red-head." Squall smiled as he walked off away from Sora. Yuna turned to her son. "What was he talking about? What red-head?"

"This girl I met and fell in love with while I was out." Sora fell to his knees and started to cry. "Now, because of me, she's going to die."

"Sora." Yuna put her hand on his shoulder. "If you really love her, then make sure she doesn't die."

"Still, if I do save her, father will find her again and hang her. If I try to tell him, he won't listen and I still marry Namine."

"Sora, there are many open paths to those in love. If you seek the right path, follow your heart." With that, Yuna walked away. Sora was still on his knees, the tears still flowing down his face. He eventually rose to his feet and headed toward the dungeon.

Down in the dungeons, Kairi was looking out of the small window toward the moon. She stared into the sky as if she was hoping the bars would disappear, and she could escape. Suddenly, she heard a faint thud down the hall. She ran over to the bars of her cell and saw that a guard was knocked out. From the darkness, a figure with silver hair walked out and greeted Kairi. "Hey, Kairi. Are you okay?"

"Riku, you son of a bitch! How could you leave me and Roxas like that?!" Kairi yelled.

"What?" Riku shrugged. "I'm saving you now aren't I?"

"No, you're not." Riku and Kairi looked to see that Sora had a grim expression on his face.

"What are you talking about, Roxas?" Riku and Kairi said in unison.

"Kairi is going to be hanged tomorrow, right before my wedding." Sora replied.

"Wedding?! What are you talking about?" Riku asked.

"I'm going to be hanged?!" Kairi yelled in worry.

"I haven't been truthful to you two. I'm not Roxas. I'm Prince Sora." Sora looked toward the floor. Riku pushed him to the ground.

"You son of a bitch. You're going to kill Kairi after all we did for you!" Riku pulled back his arm ready for a punch. Sora covered his face with his arms and waited for the blow. As Riku threw his punch, a keyblade appeared in Sora's hands. Riku's fist struck the metal with a loud crack. Riku stood up, grasping his hand in pain.

"Shit!" Riku cursed. "You broke my hand, you son of a bitch!"

"I'm not the one who hit this…" Sora looked at his new weapon and realized what it was. "keyblade."

"You still broke my hand!" Riku yelled. "What the hell am I suppose to do now?"

"Riku, please. Be reasonable." Kairi said, placing her hand on Riku's broken hand. Riku quickly pulled his hand away.

"I don't need you. Or you!" Riku pointed at Sora. Riku then stormed out of the dungeon and into the darkness. Sora looked over to Kairi to see that she was crying. The keyblade disappeared as Sora kneeled beside her.

"Kairi, what's wrong?!" Sora asked.

"What do you think?" Kairi screamed. "The one person I love is getting married tomorrow while the person who was my brother hates me now!"

"Kairi, please. Calm down."

"How can I? Everything was fine 'til I met you!"

"Please, don't say that. I promise. I will not get married tomorrow." Sora placed a hand on Kairi's shoulder, but she pushed his hand away.

"Then, what?" Kairi asked, tears flowing down her face. "I will be hanged!"

"Only if I let them," Sora responded. "As long as I love you, I will make sure no harm ever, ever comes to you."

"Promise?"

"I promise, Kairi."

_Alright, that's all for now. Like I said, it will be a while 'til my next update. Unfortunately the next update will be the last one for this story. __This is probably one of my shortest stories that I've finished that isn't a one shot. So sorry, but the next one is the last. Keep reading and reviewing!_


	5. Love and Marriage

As the sun rose, Sora's head laid on the bars

As the sun rose, Sora's head laid on the bars. Earlier, the guard woke up and saw Sora, but left him there to sleep. As Sora was dreaming of a life with Kairi, someone woke him up. He looked up with his ocean blue eyes to see Squall overshadowing him.

"It's morning. Get up, get dressed, and get married," Squall commanded. Sora rose from the ground and mumbled. As he walked out, he looked back at Kairi. He cared so much about her, but the only way to save her was to marry someone else. He turned away from her and exited the dungeons.

Kairi woke up at the sound of drums. The low bass seemed to vibrate the cell with each strike. Kairi picked herself up from the ground and noticed that Sora was gone. She wanted to look outside through the bars of the window but was too short to reach. She slumped down to the ground and started to cry.

In the dressing room of the castle, Sora was getting into his wedding robes. He stared into the reflection as he tied on his sapphire cape. He remembered how Kairi was the one that suggested changing his hair color. He smiled and turned towards the door where Kajuu was standing.

"Is there anything else you require, sir?" Kajuu asked. Sora pondered for a moment, and a thought came to him.

"I would like the prisoner, Kairi, to be set free to see the wedding," Sora answered. Kajuu didn't seem to be surprised by this request.

"As you wish, sir."

Kajuu bowed and exited the room, heading towards the dungeon. Sora turned back to the mirror and smiled. Maybe this won't be a bad day.

Outside, Kairi was enjoying the warm glow of the sun that beat down on her. She was happy when the guard unlocked the cell door and a butler in an onyx suit told her that she was free, even though it was only for the wedding. She ran down the hill toward the courtyard where the wedding was being held. Rows of white roses led toward a beautiful marble fountain. The fountain had a sculpture of an ancient knight that held up a keyblade straight up into the air where the crystal clear water would shoot out.

Today, everyone was crowded around the fountain and along the rows of roses. Only one row of roses was open and at the end stood the priest, Squall, Yuna, and Sora. Down on the opposite end of the row was a veiled Namine. As the flower girls were tossing pink petals onto the ground, Namine slowly walked down the aisle. Sora forced a weak smile and looked up toward Squall. Squall looked back down and gave Sora a small smirk. As Sora turned back toward Namine, he saw Kairi in the crowd and his heart flew. He knew that marrying Namine wasn't right, but to make sure Kairi was alive, he had to do it. Suddenly, a part of the crowd started to move and Sora could see a streak of silver hair. He started to make a move for Kairi, but Squall grabbed his shoulder.

"You are not running away now," Squall said sternly.

"You don't understand! Namine is in trouble!"

Sora struggled, but Squall had a death grip on him.

"In trouble from what? There are guards everywhere. What could possibly—"At that moment, Riku ran out from the crowd and grabbed Namine.

"Ha ha! Who are you going to marry now?" Riku yelled as he ran away from the courtyard with Namine under his arm. Everyone in the crowd was too scared to do anything.

Sora ran after Riku and Namine. "Riku! You don't understand! Come back here!"

Squall kept his death grip on Sora. Sora struggled and flailed with all his might, but Squall still held him. "Let….me….go!" Sora yelled.

"No, you are now not getting married, so we will kill the girl as punishment for your actions." Squall replied. Sora's face became red with rage. He pushed away his father's hand and punched Squall's stomach.

As Squall started to fall to the ground from the pain, Sora said, "I may not love Namine, but I would never wish harm upon her. As for Kairi, I love her. No person on this earth will ever change that."

Sora ran after Riku, ripping off his blue cape and silver crown so that he could catch up faster. He ran and ran and ran, but it was as though he couldn't catch up. Sora tried with all his might and whatever his endurance would allow him to catch up with Riku. As Riku reached the outskirts of the town, Sora was too far behind to catch him. Sora slowed down to a walk and watched as Riku ran into town with Namine over one shoulder. Sora fully stopped and placed his hands on his knees, out of breath. Sora's mind started racing, what was he going to do? At that moment, Kairi came up beside him.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah…I think so," Sora replied, still breathing heavily. "Where do you think he went?"

"I don't know," Kairi responded, "maybe he went home."

"Let's check." They both ran off into the town.

As they ran through, evading guards on the search for the "silver haired ruffian", they went through any alley, or condemned building or any place that Riku may have hidden himself. Once they reached Kairi's house, the sheet, that once was a makeshift door, was ripped down. Sora and Kairi proceeded with caution; the only sound that they could hear was their own breathing. They both looked around and were surprised to not see Riku there.

"Where could he be?" Sora asked Kairi, combing his blonde dyed hair with his hand.

"I don't know. He couldn't be anywhere else. The royal guards probably would have caught him," Kairi responded.

"You know, he could always be right behind you."

Sora and Kairi spun around to see Riku with Namine, held by one of his arms while her mouth was covered by his other hand.

"Let her go! She hasn't done anything wrong!" Sora yelled, pushing Kairi behind him for protection.

"What are you talking about? If I didn't kidnap her, then Kairi would have died."

"No, I wouldn't have!" Kairi spoke up. "He made sure that if he wed….Namine, that I would be spared!" She shuffled back behind Sora. She hoped that her lie worked.

Riku's face went from anger to shock. His grip on Namine loosened and she ran toward Sora and Kairi. She went behind Sora and put her arms around Kairi like a lost child finding their mother. Sora looked towards Riku and saw that he buried his face to his hands. Sora started to walk over, then Riku looked up and glared at Sora. "You!" Riku scowled, pointing at Sora, "You brainwashed her! You tricked Kairi with a promise of freedom! For that, I'll kill you!" At that moment, a keyblade appeared in Riku's hand. It was a blood red color, the blade like that of a wicked bat, the sapphire orb in the hilt glowed compared to the surrounding black. Sora stopped where he was and looked at Riku.

"Riku, please don't do anything stupid," Sora said, his hands up. "You can't afford to do this."

"Nothing new," Riku responded. "I've never been able to afford anything in my life!"

At that moment, Sora noticed something wrong. "Wait, wasn't your hand broken?"

Riku laughed. "I found a power that helped me heal faster than ever!" A dark aura appeared around Riku's figure. Everyone's eyes widened when they saw this. The light from the sun seem to fade away into darkness. "You know what some people say…Sora. The closer you are to the light, the larger your shadow becomes!" Riku sprinted toward Sora and sliced the tunic that Sora was wearing. Sora kept backing up and trying to dodge Riku's attacks, but he did not have the experience like Riku did. Finally, Riku stopped and Sora saw that his tunic was basically nothing but rags now. Riku walked over to Sora and kicked him down to the floor. Sora looked up at Riku and saw the end of the blade inches away from his nose. "Now, I will make sure that you never hurt anyone ever again." Riku raised his blade and came down with a powerful force, only to be stopped by another keyblade. Sora, his eyes closed to brace himself, saw that the keyblade he had before appeared in his hands. Riku at that time backed up and analyzed the situation. "Where the hell did you get that?!" Riku yelled.

"I…don't know, but I feel as though it belongs to me," Sora responded as he felt the power surge through him. He pushed back Riku's blade hard enough to make Riku stumble. Riku's face was in shock, as Sora rose, Riku went after him again. This time, Sora was ready and parried Riku's attacks, looking for any opening to counter. The sparks from both blades seemed to light up the darkness that they all were engulfed in. Kairi and Namine, still watching in amazement from a distance, were scared for their lives. As Riku attacked Sora, Sora struck back with as much force as he could, but he was starting to get tired and Riku seemed to be full of energy.

"Getting tired?" Riku asked, grinning at Sora.

"No…" Sora lied, "I'm just warming up!" Riku kicked Sora down again. Sora looked up and saw the end of Riku's blade at his face again.

"What now, prince?" Riku asked grimly. Sora rolled to the side and stood up before Riku could do anything. Sora was breathing heavily now. He could barely stand his own ground. He was breathing heavily, and he felt as though he might pass out at any second. Riku ran toward Sora the tip of his blade scraping the ground.

"Darkness, as I see now, is the only way to survive in this world," Riku said, the dark aura around him growing. At that moment, Sora looked over at Kairi and Namine; they didn't deserve anything that happened to them. Sora could feel the anger rising in him. He braced himself for Riku's attack and as Riku raised his blade and was about to slice Sora, Sora deflected it. Riku was astonished at this, he saw a light form around Sora.

"It doesn't matter how big your shadow may become. There's always a light in your heart that never goes out!" Sora yelled as he ran toward Riku. The sparks from their keyblades intensified the light that Sora was emitting. The light around Sora was growing, and the darkness around Riku was fading. As Riku weakened, Sora only became stronger. Finally, Sora knocked the keyblade out of Riku's hand and sent it flying across the small room. He then proceeded to kick Riku down and hold his keyblade in front of Riku's face, just as he did to Sora. At that time, the darkness around Riku disappeared. The fear finally sunk in.

"You…you wouldn't kill me…would you?" Riku asked, shaking on the ground. Sora pondered this for a moment. He could see the fear in Riku's aqua eyes.

"No, I'm not like you." Sora lowered his keyblade and looked over to Riku's Souleater. Sora then took his keyblade and struck Souleater with such a force that it was destroyed. The darkness from the keyblade rose into the air and disappeared. The light around Sora, along with the keyblade, disappeared too and Sora fell to the ground, exhausted from the battle. Riku rose up from the ground and ran over toward Sora, but Kairi was faster and pushed Riku out of the way.

"Haven't you done enough?!" Kairi yelled. Riku backed away and actually joined Namine, who was sitting in the corner where she and Kairi were frozen before.

"Hi," Riku said to Namine. "Sorry for what I did before. I wasn't myself." Namine sat there, silent and unresponsive. Riku decided to try something and turned toward Namine, he then proceeded to giving her a hug. At that time, Namine broke into tears. "He really likes her, doesn't he?" She said, crying. Riku looked over toward Kairi and Sora. "It seems like it." He then looked toward Namine. "I don't have any objections to it." Namine looked up to Riku and started to wipe the tears away from her eyes, smiling now. "Yeah, I guess," Namine responded. Kairi had Sora's head on her lap and was combing his hair.

"Come on, Sora, please wake up." At that moment, Sora gave out a small sigh and slowly opened his eyes, "Sora! You're alive!" Kairi hugged Sora, almost crushing him.

"Kairi, Kairi, let go!" Sora begged. Kairi loosened her grip and smiled. Sora stretched a bit and looked at her in the eyes, "I just have one question for you," Sora said. Kairi nodded, tears forming in her eyes again. "Will you marry me?"

(Leonheart Courtyard)

The courtyard was decorated yet again with beautiful wedding decorations. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky. Sora stood beside Squall, both wearing traditional royal wedding robes. The whole town was there to see the wedding. Everyone turned their attention toward the aisle as the music started. They saw Namine walking down the aisle, a basket of white and pink rose petals in her hands. She was throwing them into the air, the petals falling to the ground behind her. At the very end of the aisle stood Riku in ruby and onyx robes, with a white dressed veiled Kairi holding his arm both waiting for their cue. Squall nudged Sora, bent down to Sora's height and whispered, "You know, you're lucky. Do you know how many strings I had to pull to allow you to marry this girl?"

"Probably less than what you're saying since the Strifes adopted both Kairi and Riku," Sora whispered back. Squall smiled and stood straight up again. At that moment, Kairi and Riku had reached the altar. Kairi loosened her grip on Riku and held hands with Sora with the priest looking over them. Riku backed away and joined his new mother and father on the Strife side of the courtyard. The priest called for everyone to be silent.

"Now, do you, Sora, take Kairi to be your wife in sickness and health, for better or worse, in light or darkness, til death do you part?"

"I do." Sora smiled.

"Kairi, do you take Sora to be your husband in sickness and health, for better or worse, in light or darkness, til death do you part?"

"I do." Kairi answered.

"Then with the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife." The priest finished. Sora and Kairi kissed in the beautiful sunlight.

_FINALLY!! It's now done! I apologize for such a long wait. I know that it has been almost a year since the last update. Lot of personal things happened, and writer's block was piling up like crazy. I will be starting a new story hopefully soon, but there's no title yet. I will put the title up on my profile as soon as I think of it. Thank you, loyal readers for being…hopefully patient and reading the stories I put out. _


End file.
